BART defends practice of free rides for workers, families

On any given day, up to 13,000 BART workers, retirees, board directors and all their family members can ride the cash-strapped system for free, according to newly provided data from the transit agency.

Add in the the 4,000 off-duty law enforcement officers from around the Bay Area with free passes and you have more than 17,000 passes handed out by BART. That’s roughly the population of Moraga (17,416), more than double the population of Sausalito (7,125) or three times Brisbane’s population (4,693).

According to the just-released records, BART “smart card” passes have been issued to 3,624 current employees (including the transit district’s nine board members), 2,526 BART retirees, and 6,940 spouses, domestic partners and other dependents